Radovan Karadzic was sure he would never be found and remains convinced he was not given away by an informer, it was reported in Belgrade yesterday.

As Serbian authorities tried to track down those responsible for providing Karadzic with forged identity papers, Blic newspaper reported that the Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect was refusing food in his cell in Belgrade, from where he is fighting extradition to The Hague war crimes tribunal.

The tabloid published the first substantial remarks attributed to Karadzic since his arrest a week ago.

"Hiding was not difficult for me except for the fact that I was separated from my family," he is reported to have told his lawyer, Svetozar Vujacic. "I attended conferences and stood before cameras since I was convinced I would never be found. I exclude the possibility that somebody tipped me off since nobody that I was in contact with knew that I was Radovan Karadzic."

Blic, which has had substantial access to Vujacic since the arrest, also reported that Karadzic was on his way by bus to a fortnight's holiday at a spa outside Belgrade when arrested. He was carrying swimming trunks, €600 (£475), a laptop computer, two mobile phones, some small Orthodox Christian icons and spare clothes when he was arrested. All items except the phones have been returned to him.

Karadzic's claim to have been arrested on Friday, three days before the Serbian government says he was picked up, has been confirmed by witnesses on the bus on which he was travelling at the time. Commentators have speculated that the government was waiting for parliament to begin a recess before announcing the news. According to Blic, the fugitive did not know where he was held in the intervening three days.

"I was taken into a small room with a bed and a table. I was not maltreated. They politely asked me to talk to them and to take food, but I refused. No DNA analysis was carried out since I personally confirmed my identity," Karadzic is reported to have told his lawyer.

Vujacic has also said his client planned to turn himself in early next year, by which time he expected the Hague tribunal to have ceased taking on new cases.

Karadzic insisted the woman he had been seen with in the last few months was a business associate, not the "love of his life", as the Serbian press had reported. That, he claimed, was disinformation put out by the intelligence services.

According to Serbian investigators, his forged identity papers were issued in the northern Serbian town of Ruma, possibly with the help of Slobodan Medic, a local paramilitary leader who is on trial for his role in the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 mainly Muslim men and boys in 1995.